10-year international calendar plan to be discussed at RLIF congress
A plan for the international calendar will be on the agenda when the RLIF holds its annual congress next month.
With the first World Cup Nines taking place in Australia, more than 40 delegate from around the world will attend a summit in Sydney to discuss the progress of the international game.
A 10-year rolling calendar has been put on the table, and comprises of biennial regional competitions from 2020, which was agreed in June.
Major events for 2020-2030 have been presented, including World Cups in 2021, 2025 and 2029, and it will be discussed at congress with the view to being confirmed by the second quarter of 2020.
It comes after a number of sub-committees and working groups have been established to assist the RLIF board with decision making.
Chair Graeme Thompson said: “This is a further indication of the maturing role of the RLIF. The amount of important work being generated by the executive team is now at a point where the Board requires support in assessing and overseeing all aspects of the sport.
“This committee structure is a modern reflection of that. We are able to share the workload across Board members, include members from both the APRLC and the RLEF and also from the wider membership where appropriate. Our executive will take a lead in supporting the committees and we will, of course, be bringing in expert opinion from both within the sport and outside where required.
“It’s one of those developments which form a fundamental part of any IF – with the right people in place offering solutions and assessing proposals, it will support dynamic and progressive decision making. It also demonstrates the growing breadth and the depth of the federation plus the increasing involvement of the membership.”
French officials are particularly keen to get regular international matches organised, and have requested a coheren schedule of at least five years.
Mathieu Khedimi believes that only regular matches between the playing nations will “relieve rugby league of its straitjacket”, according to the latest FFR news release.